Merton has decided formally to reject the idea of a new Safeway superstore on Plough Lane. It is now up to the Secretary of State for the Environment to make a final decision on the proposal.

As predicted in the last issue of MCC News the Council turned down the application at its June planning committee meeting. An MCC representative spoke at the meeting but the committee needed no further convincing. Safeway’s revised plans contained only minimal changes and councillors voted unanimously against the proposals.

MCC will give evidence at the public inquiry which is expected to take place in the autumn.

The Home Office has yet again failed to respond adequately to the issue of reduced speeds in residential areas.

In a continuing attempt to discover precisely where the government stands, Wimbledon MP Roger Casale asked a question of the Secretary of State for the Home Department about what plans he had to ensure that the Police had sufficient resources to enforce speed limits effectively.

He received the following answer from Home Office Minister Kate Hoey "Effective enforcement of the speed limit is an important police function for which the funding of the Metropolitan Police already provides. The deployment of resources to meet prioritised policing objectives in this area is a matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police."

MCC feels that the police is not adequately funded to enforce speed limits and this should be a core objective in achieving safer roads.

Following the success of the Richmond Park Critical Mass ride in June which attracted nearly 500 riders and wide local media interest, similar rides are taking place on the first Sunday of the month, meeting at 1400 hrs at Richmond Gate until the authorities get the message.

The Surrey Comet is running a poll to elicit readers’ views about whether access to the park should be restricted. The question they ask is "should Richmond Park be closed to traffic?" Cyclists are urged to respond to this, by sending an email, a fax or a letter to this paper to answer "yes".

As The Richmond and Twickenham Times wrote in a very supportive leader column "Richmond Park closure is a winnable battle", please vote and help us win it.

Sareena Patel of Morden was the winner of the Ridgeback 602L mountain bike kindly donated by Wimbledon Cycles as the prize in our draw organised as part of the MCC display at the Civic Centre during Bike Week . The bike was presented to her on 1 July at Wimbledon Cycles: many thanks again to Wimbledon Cycles for their support.

The commuter challenge organised during National Bike Week was the largest yet. 12 teams fielded a total of 60 participants and bikes won on 11 out of 12 courses. And the rider of the twelfth bike was only a minute later because he got lost! It was disappointing to see how long it took those making the journey to the Civic Centre by public transport: Richard Evans of MCC walked back to Raynes Park in less time than it took him to get there on the bus!

A further six cyclists take more confidently to the roads thanks to the adult cyclist training course organised in July.

The cyclists all responded very positively saying they would recommend the courses to others and would use their bikes more as a result. Thanking the organisers for a "brilliant course", participant Olive Sutton said "I feel a lot more confident and assertive which makes me feel a lot safer and happier on my bike". MCC is also happier having gained six new members.

Cycle to work? Many workplaces are trying to encourage cycling to work but don’t really know how to go about it. This helpful list published on the internet’s urbancyclist newsgroup offers help in approaching the boss for the right kind of changing room so that no one dies of armpit exposure.